LA dreaming #5: I gotta feeling...
This morning I woke up with a thought that this is not a skill to know a language. This is a feeling. A feeling that you have to grow and cultivate in you. You can study grammar, listen to special podcasts, translate texts constantly, but it won’t impart the feeling in you.
The feeling is when you’re not thinking which word is correct in one or another situation. You feel unconsciously which one is right just because you have huge speaking experience. And you may not know if it is a phrasal verb or just a verb with a preposition that you have just used right now.
A baby starts to speak not because it has read tons of books and memorized dozens of grammar rules. All this educational stuff comes later. A kid knows lots of idioms but he has no idea about what does the word «idiom» mean and what do phrasal verbs consist of. He has an unconscious feeling.
Therefore the best way to know language is to feel it. To be in the environment as long as possible, as well as be patient and ready for a long severe trip from where you are to your aim.